Spanish Phase 1, Unit 1 contains 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation, and isolated vocabulary and structures. Detailed instructions enable you to understand and participate in the conversation. The lesson contains full practice for all vocabulary introduced in this unit. The emphasis is on pronunciation and comprehension, and on learning to speak Spanish.

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Publisher's Summary

The Pimsleur® Method has worked for millions all over the world. Totally portable; simple to use; Pimsleur works so you don’t have to. Spanish Phase 1, Unit 1 contains 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation, and isolated vocabulary and structures. Detailed instructions enable you to understand and participate in the conversation. The lesson contains full practice for all vocabulary introduced in this unit. The emphasis is on pronunciation and comprehension, and on learning to speak Spanish.

What the Critics Say

"Pimsleur programs provide plenty of positive reinforcement that will keep learners on track, and we found that Pimsleur gave us more proficiency and confidence in speaking the new language than any of the other language programs we reviewed." (AudioFile magazine)

You only get 30 minutes of material. It says that in the description so don't complain about it.

First 15 minutes talk about the theory of memory and good intro for reinforcing how to use the material in the program. Sets the foundational for your learning schema. It's free and gets your toes wet for what you're in store for.

If I were to create the chapter instead of just hacking out the first 46 min as a download, I'd increase the accelerated approach of learning by cutting out some theory. Turns out to be too much of harping on traditional methods otherwise.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This audiobook contains two chapters: An "introduction" to the learning methods and a unit/lesson.I had to skip over the self-praising "blabla" of the first chapter (not lesson), because it was self-repeating, overly confident that the sorcerer's stone has finally been found is being broadcast by this very company and that the audience of these lecture will not only learn Spanish but make the world a better place by spending their money on these courses.

The lesson itself is very (and I mean VERY) brief. Basically a man asks a woman if she understands him and she responds "No". Each sentence in the (not really) conversation is then repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and broken down into words and syllables, which in turn, are being repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated.It FEELS like two hours spent on four words, when in fact it is around half an hour spent on ... well, I didn't count the words, it must have been five or six.

What do you LEARN?

You learn to speak those words. You can NOT make up a conversation from them. You do NOT get an "understanding" of how the language works. You won't be able to understand the words if someone with a different pronunciation speaks them. But you learn to speak the words. Well.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

In the end I was so happy that it ended (the lesson, not the end, the end just was there) that I nearly missed the commendation that I was "ready to take the next unit, if I did master to repeat 80% of the repetitions that were repeated through the repeated repetitions of the words in this unit". OK, the wording was a bit different and more motivating, but you get the picture. If someone, who is being bombed with the same few words over and over and over and over and over again, is, in the end, NOT able to repeat the same words, he (or she) must be a politician.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

There is no "pace" in the story, as the conversation is completely artificial and school-book-like. In that, the narration definitely matched the pace of the story, yes. Should I repeat that?

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Groundhog day, anyone? Just without the wit, the fun and Bill Murray? And, even worse, without a groundhog?

Any additional comments?

I think I will buy the rest of the course. It may always happen that I am lying somewhere, tied to a bed (or in a deep coma) and need something to motivate me to get out.

This is a good way to learn. Because speaking out loud in response to the questions is required, a person might prefer to do this at home alone, or in a car. I'm doing outdoor chores, so the horses and chickens and goats are all learning Spanish with me.

I bought the series, so this review is for the entire series. 5 Stars!

The crucial thing about language lessons to me is the ability to put them on my iPod so I can listen on the go... this 'free' track would import into iTunes alright, but my iPod didn't recognise it and wouldn't import it, even though it imported the rest of the Playlist I had it saved in. This has never happened to me before on the many purchases I have made from Audible. I'm not sure if this is deliberate on the part of Pimsleur, anyway, it has put me off buying the 5 Credit, full Phase 1 set of Spanish lessons...

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